Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation
Misinformation and disinformation thrive in today’s technology landscape, and arguably present the greatest threat to modern society. Information architecture – the practice of designing and managing digital spaces – has an opportunity to intervene. This podcast looks at disinformation from an information architecture perspective, and considers ways to expand the practice of IA to address this new reality.
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What is Information Architecture?
Information architecture is the practice of designing virtual structures – the shape and form of online spaces and digital products. When you click on a navigation menu or follow the steps in a process, you're experiencing the information architecture of a web site or digital product.
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What is disinformation?
Understanding disinformation is the purpose of this podcast. We are trying to figure out exactly what it is and what it means. If information architecture is the practice of designing virtual spaces, then disinformation is something that can occupy that space to disrupt the user's experience. Alternatively, it is a way of manipulating the space (like flooding it with irrelevant facts) to achieve an end unrelated to the space's original intention.
Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation
Episode 3: Disinformation and vaccines with Dr. Adam Ratner
SYNOPSIS
Rachel and Dan talk to Dr. Adam Ratner, author of the new book Booster Shots, about the misinformation he encounters as a pediatric infectious disease specialist. We discuss the distinctions between vaccine hesitancy and being anti-vax, and how misinformation has an impact beyond individual healthcare. Dan uses the discussion to highlight a new “lens” called double-tagging, and Rachel is inspired to establish the lens “frenzy.”
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STORIES OF DISINFORMATION
The Fifth Column
Rachel describes how the US used the fictional threat of a “fifth column” to bolster their argument for Japanese internment camps.
- A Brief History of Japanese American Relocation During World War II (National Park Service)
- How a Public Media Campaign Led to Japanese Incarceration during WWII (GBH - American Experience)
- Of Spies and G-Men: How the U.S. Government Turned Japanese Americans into Enemies of the State (densho.org)
Reciprocal Tariffs
Dan highlights some of the more subtle and insidious misinformation about Trump’s tariffs.
- Trade deficits and truth deficits (Julian Sanchez)
- PBS interview of Justin Wolfers
- Jake Tapper interview of Ag secretary Rollins
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INTERVIEW WITH DR ADAM RATNER
- Dr. Adam Ratner
- Adam’s book: Booster Shots: The Urgent Lesson of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children’s Health
- 2019 measles outbreak in New York City (New England Journal of Medicine)
- Brooklyn measles outbreak: How a glossy booklet spread anti-vaccine messages in Orthodox Jewish communities (NBC News)
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LENSES
Double-tagging
Seemingly innocuous labels can be turned into misinformation by applying them in a way that is technically accurate, but twists the meaning of the label. Tagging anti-vax information with the label “vaccines” is misleading, and undermines the integrity of the system.
- How might tags and classification schemes be co-opted to threaten the system’s integrity?
- How does the system’s classification scheme adapt to deal with neutral terms that have become loaded?
Frenzy
Information systems have a responsibility to help users understand what’s truly important and/or urgent. Systems must avoid contributing to the frenzy of information.
- How does the system help participants prioritize without causing a fre
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Personnel
- Dan Brown, Host
- Rachel Price, Host
- Emily Duncan, Editor
Music
- Turtle Up Fool, by Elliot
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Unchecked is a production of Curious Squid
Curious Squid is a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design
